Partner Article

‘Great understanding of football’ shows Sunderland AFC’s latest deal is no gamble

Premier League football club Sunderland AFC has extended its partnership with eGaming operator Dafabet until the end of the 2018-19 season.

The Black Cats originally announced their link-up with Dafabet in the summer of 2015 and since that time the partnership has gone from strength to strength.

The extension to the current agreement sees Dafabet become one of the club’s longest-serving principal partners in its history.

With the support of Dafabet, whose key markets are Asia and the UK, the club launched a Chinese language website, which, along with additional activities in the future, is helping to elevate its presence in the Asian territories.

The power of the Premier League, the most watched sporting league in the world, also gives Dafabet increased exposure across a global platform, including having their name emblazoned on the Black Cats’ shirts for the next three seasons.

As part of their ongoing commitment to the club, Dafabet will be undertaking a number of fan engagement initiatives, beginning with the gift of a giant crowd-surfer flag to fans group Ha’way the Flags, to be used at the Stadium of Light on matchdays.

The new flag will feature a current Sunderland AFC first-team player and fans will be asked to vote online for the player they would most like to feature in the design.

Speaking about the extension to the already successful partnership, Sunderland AFC’s commercial director, Gary Hutchinson said: “Dafabet have a great understanding of football and the football industry and over the last year we have seen our partnership with them flourish on a global level.

“There is a real synergy between the clubs’ aims and objectives and what Dafabet want to achieve. They are a major player in the football and sport sectors and we are delighted to align ourselves with them in the longer term, giving us increased opportunities to grow and develop our relationship in the coming years”.

John Cruces, head of sports marketing and sponsorship at Dafabet, said: “We are very happy to extend our partnership somewhat ‘early’ with Sunderland - the deal was actually agreed in principle some time back such is the level we value the partnership. We have the mindset that the best relationships are formed between those who build and work on achieving common goals, this has become evident between ourselves.

“We have had a busy summer in that we have announced a number of new deals across football and sport in general, extending our relationship with Sunderland was important to us for the brand presence the club has already helped us achieve, and will no doubt continue to do so.”

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